Met Police staff to return to office as bosses seek to wipe out working from home

MET police staff are to return to the office as bosses seek to wipe out working from home.

A formal announcement is due in the next fortnight.

Rumours about the changes have swept the force in the past 48 hours — with unions threatening disruption.

A phased-in system will see some departments issued a maximum one day a week WFH compared to the current three.

It comes as bosses admit some of the Met’s 46,000 workers — 33,852 officers and 13,795 support staff — have “taken advantage” of post-Covid practices.

For the first time a blanket policy will replace haphazard rules across departments.

But one cop warned: “Flexibility was one of the attractions of working.

"There are many who joined after the pandemic used to working from home.

“No one knows where staff will go, so many buildings have been sold off.

"Staff are not happy. Expect mass resignations.”

A source added: “Expectations are changing. Not all staff are needed operationally in the office, or on site, seven days a week but it is fair to say some staff have taken advantage of practices since the pandemic.”

The Met is already heading for its lowest staffing levels in a decade by March 2025 — 310 officers per 100,000 Londoners, down from 342 in March 2023.

The Met did not comment. But a source close to the force said: “We are in the process of finalising our hybrid working policy, which we haven’t yet communicated.

"As you’d expect, it will vary based on the operational requirements of the role.”